We can't believe it! Our fall forest school sessions have come to an end. We made a plan for what we'd do to celebrate for our last afternoon together:

hike

check out Paradise Lake

have our winter woodland workshop

make a fire

show our parents around

But first: we heard a story about Crumbfest, a celebration in December where mice found tons of yummy crumbs on the floor each year. We imagined what it would be like to be a mouse and hunt for crumbs inside and outside at this time of year. We talked about the winter solstice - about the shortening days until December 21, and celebrations of light.

Then we were off on our hike! We stopped along the way to play a partner game of "find that beech tree."

We stopped for a while by Paradise Lake and tested the water. It was frozen solid, so we pretended we were zambonis and cleared the ice.

Back at our site, we set up our workshop to make more ornaments.

Then it was time for a fire, popcorn, and singing. We talked about what we will remember from these past 10 weeks of forest school: salamanders, Cocoa the dragon, swamp tromps, exploring, walking on the lake, playing in castles, dragging log dogs around, building fires, working with tools, telling stories, crafting with woodland materials, hiking together, and getting to know these wonderful woods at Camp Ki-Wa-Y. There is still so much to explore!

Some parents came to see where we'd been exploring over the past weeks.

Over the last 2 weeks, we've been trying out some tools as a way to engage with our woodland setting. We got quite creative!

But first: a playground in the woods!

A teeter totter!

A riding horse!

And a low ropes course!

Getting a sawhorse ready...

for some serious sawing.

Look! More turkey tracks!

Whose tracks are these?

Looking up on a beautiful, sunny afternoon:

Looking down on our Wonderful Winter Woodland Workshop of Elves at work sawing, drilling, and creating:

Creativity abounds! Look at what we made as gifts and as decorations:

A happy tree:

We went for a hike in the woods:

And found a group of happy turtles:

Who put this corn cob there?

Look at all of the beech trees in the background here! We learned that beech trees are one of the only North American trees that squirrels can't climb because of their smooth bark. We wondered why beech trees hold onto their leaves for so long. Why don't they let go when the other deciduous trees to? We talked about the name beech, and how it sounds like beach, and how that reminds us of summer. Maybe beech trees want to hold onto summer for as long as they can.

We each found a spot for some quiet time in the woods. It was so still and silent.

Going "ice fishing":

One more week, Wild Turkeys! We'll see what there is to explore next week.